Apr 5th, 2006
How I saw it.
I sat right behind the table for testimonies so I didn’t want to be too obvious snapping photos while I was being filmed. I did manage to get a few shots, but without flash or any attention to focus/framing since I kept the camera in my lap.
Wally and Cathy Peck from Bemidji testify.
They ended their presentation about their lesbian daughter with a cue for PFLAGers to hold up photos of their kids. I think it was quite a message — that the people breaking the rules at the hearing were married heterosexual people over the age of 50 who will do anything for their children.
Senator Scott Dibble, left, a strong opponent of this amendment (and an openly gay senator) was present at the hearing, but was not one of the senators on the committee to vote following the testimony.
My view of Esera Tuaolo’s testimony, with Senator Bachmann in the background.
After the vote, Michele Bachmann tried to keep her sound bites focused on how voters “will remember” this is November. Implying that Senators who killed the amendment in committee will be voted out of office for not letting “the people decide.”
But she couldn’t stop reporters from asking about her lesbian step-sister, Helen LaFave, who was at the hearing with her partner of 18 years.